Las Vegas man agrees to plead guilty to ‘massive Ponzi scheme’

A Las Vegas attorney who prosecutors say orchestrated a “massive Ponzi scheme” that took in over $500 million has agreed to plead guilty to five counts of fraud, according to a document filed in federal court Friday.

Matthew Beasley, according to the 21-page plea agreement/memorandum filed in U.S. District Court, solicited over $519 million in investments from over 1,200 people from 2017 to 2022.

Beasley, federal prosecutors said, returned about $331 million to some investors, but also paid himself over $33 million, which he used to pay off gambling debts, buy luxury homes, expensive cars and other luxury items.

In all, according to the document, nearly 950 investors lost more than $246 million.

More than two dozen investors into the scheme “suffered substantial financial hardships,” which included “substantial loss of retirement, education or other savings” and substantial changes to their employment or “living arrangements,” prosecutors said.

A Las Vegas standoff

Beasley was apprehended by FBI agents at his 6,400-square-foot northwest Las Vegas home on March 3, 2022, after he came to the door with a gun to his head.

At least one law enforcement agent opened fire on Beasley, hitting him in the chest and shoulder. After an hourslong standoff with law enforcement, Beasley was taken to a local hospital.

Authorities had long suspected Beasley of running a Ponzi scheme that mainly targeted members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The investments Beasley sold were pitched as nearly risk-free opportunities to earn annual returns of 50 percent by lending money to slip-and-fall victims awaiting checks after the settlement of their lawsuits.

For several years, according to an SEC complaint from April 2023, Beasley and his business partner paid existing investors with money from new clients. A Ponzi scheme “is an investment fraud that pays existing investors with funds collected from new investors,” according to Investor.gov.

“From in or about 2016 to in or about March 2022, defendant, acting with the intent to defraud, operated a massive Ponzi scheme involving investments purportedly in litigation settlement funding contracts,” the plea agreement document states.

They bought luxury vehicles, a private jet, cryptocurrency and multimillion-dollar properties in California, Nevada and Utah, according to reports by a court-appointed receiver, who recovered about $90 million in investor funds by selling those assets.

The maximum sentence Beasley could get is 100 years in prison and a fine of more than $1.2 million, though the agreement explains that the government will “recommend a downward adjustment” of the consequences Beasley faces because of his “acceptance of responsibility.”

RJ partnership with Washington Post

Beasley’s dealings were being investigated by Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German before the veteran investigative journalist was murdered at his Las Vegas home in 2022

The Washington Post later teamed up with the Review-Journal to continue the investigation. A story by Post reporter Lizzie Johnson was published by both the Review-Journal and the Washington Post in early 2023.

Beasley was originally charged for pointing the gun at an FBI agent at his home, though that charge was later dropped.

Earlier this year, Beasley filed a complaint against the U.S. government and three FBI agents over injuries he suffered when he was shot.

In Beasley’s lawsuit, he alleges that FBI agents did not have a warrant to search his home.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Beasley in March 2023. He made his initial appearance in federal court later that month.

Beasley’s attorney, federal public defender Joanne Diamond, did not immediately respond to a request from the Review-Journal for an interview.

Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.